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Best Free Coinos Alternative

If you use Coinos as a no-KYC web wallet for sending and receiving Lightning payments and zapping on Nostr, Rizful does the same things and adds a few extras that make daily use smoother.

Both are browser-based, both support NWC (Nostr Wallet Connect), and neither requires KYC. The difference is in the details: Rizful gives you a permanent @rizful.com Lightning Address out of the box, lets you choose between receive-only and full-access NWC codes, and handles on-chain BTC ↔ Lightning conversions automatically inside the same wallet.

What Coinos Users Actually Care About​

Most people who use Coinos are not running a self-hosted server stack. They use the public Coinos instance as a simple web wallet because it checks these boxes:

  • No KYC — sign up with a username, start using it
  • Web-based — works in a browser, nothing to install
  • Lightning send and receive — fast, cheap payments
  • NWC for Nostr — connect it to Damus, Amethyst, Primal, or other Nostr clients for zaps
  • Always online — your wallet is reachable 24/7, so you can receive zaps and payments while you sleep

If that is your Coinos workflow, the question is whether Rizful preserves all of that while improving anything meaningful.

Why Rizful Is a Strong Alternative​

Rizful is a free, browser-based Lightning wallet that covers the same ground:

  • No KYC — create an account at rizful.com and start sending and receiving
  • Browser-based on any device — works on phone, tablet, or desktop with no install; you can add it to your home screen like an app
  • Lightning send and receive — the core of the product
  • NWC for Nostr zaps and apps — connect Rizful to Damus, Amethyst, Primal, Yakihonne, or any NWC-compatible client
  • Always online — your vault is reachable around the clock for incoming payments and zaps

Where Rizful adds to this baseline:

Permanent Lightning Address​

Every Rizful account gets a permanent @rizful.com Lightning Address. You can put it in your Nostr profile, share it publicly, and receive payments to it indefinitely. You can also have up to ten addresses on one account.

NIP-05 Nostr Identity​

Rizful provides NIP-05 verification, so your Nostr identity can be confirmed through your Rizful account — no separate NIP-05 provider needed.

Two Types of NWC Codes​

This is one of Rizful's most practical differences. Instead of one NWC connection that can do everything, Rizful lets you choose:

  • A receive-only NWC code — safe to hand to any app, because it can only receive payments, not spend your sats
  • A send-and-receive NWC code — full access for trusted apps like your main Nostr client, with the option to set spending limits and expiration dates

This means you can give a receive-only code to an app you are trying out, and keep full-access codes limited to the clients you actually trust. You can also delete any NWC code at any time to cut off access.

Test Vaults​

If you want to try a new Nostr client or NWC-powered app without risking your main balance, Rizful lets you create separate test vaults with small amounts (even ~100 sats). Experiment freely, and if something goes wrong, you have only lost pocket change.

On-Chain BTC ↔ Lightning​

Rizful handles on-chain to Lightning and Lightning to on-chain conversions directly inside the wallet. If someone sends you on-chain BTC, it automatically becomes available on Lightning after confirmation. If you need to send on-chain, you can do that from your Lightning balance. No separate swap service needed.

Reusable QR Code for Receiving​

Rizful provides a reusable QR code that works like your Lightning Address in visual form — no expiration, scannable by anyone with a Lightning wallet. Useful for putting on a profile page, printing on a sticker, or sharing in a group chat.

How NWC Actually Works (and Why Both Wallets Support It)​

NWC (NIP-47) is the protocol that lets a Nostr app talk to your Lightning wallet through encrypted messages on a Nostr relay. When you zap someone in Damus or Amethyst, your client is using NWC to ask your wallet to pay a Lightning invoice on your behalf.

The flow looks like this:

Both Coinos and Rizful implement NWC. Coinos' server code includes the standard NIP-47 method set (pay_invoice, make_invoice, get_balance, lookup_invoice, list_transactions), and docs.nwc.dev lists Coinos as a reference implementation.

Rizful documents the same NWC connectivity and goes further by offering the receive-only vs send-and-receive code distinction, plus the test vault workflow for safe experimentation.

The point: this is not a proprietary lock-in. Both wallets speak the same protocol. Your Nostr clients do not care which wallet is behind the NWC code — they just need a valid nostr+walletconnect:// URI.

How to Switch from Coinos to Rizful​

1. Create Your Rizful Account​

Sign up at rizful.com. Claim your Lightning Address, and enable 2FA if you want extra security (recommended).

2. Set Up NWC for Your Nostr Clients​

Generate the NWC codes you need:

If you want to test things safely first, create a test vault with ~100 sats and experiment there.

3. Move Your Sats​

Pick your route:

  • Lightning (fastest): use your new Rizful Lightning Address or create an invoice in Rizful, then pay it from Coinos
  • On-chain: generate an on-chain address in Rizful and send BTC from Coinos; once confirmed, it becomes available on Lightning automatically

Start with a small amount to confirm everything works, then move the rest.

4. Update Your Nostr Profile​

  • Replace your old NWC connection string in your Nostr clients (Damus, Amethyst, Primal, etc.) with your Rizful NWC code
  • Update the Lightning Address in your Nostr profile to your @rizful.com address
  • Update your NIP-05 if you are switching to Rizful's identity verification

5. Clean Up​

Revoke or delete your old NWC connections in Coinos. Old NWC codes are like old passwords — if they still work, they are still a risk.

Bottom Line​

If your Coinos workflow is "open browser, send and receive Lightning, zap on Nostr", Rizful does all of that with a few practical upgrades: a permanent Lightning Address, separate NWC codes for different trust levels, test vaults for safe experimentation, and automatic on-chain ↔ Lightning conversions. No KYC, no app install, no server to run.

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